Not only can you see how many times the ad was viewed (impressions) but also know how many of these impressions converted into clicks, and how many of these clicks converted into sales for every single ad placed in rotation. This makes it very easy to test headlines and calls to action to quickly find out what works. Moreover, as you may already know, having the right headline can double even triple your conversion rates.

When you can quickly see which traffic sources are making the most money, then you know which traffic sources deserve an increase your ad budget. By rotating and testing different ads, you can see what headlines and copy is working best. An ad server delivers all the reports and intelligence you need to identify which traffic sources and creatives are either losing or making money.

Ad server reports will give you all the key numbers you need to make critical decisions based on the data and not your emotions or logic. A common mistake marketers make is to rely on the ad networks to serve their ads and rely on them to optimize the campaign. Relying on an ad network to serve and manage your campaign is like having someone else look after your pet. No one is going to care as much as you do.

Without using an ad server, you forego one of the most essential Internet marketing tools available. Here are some of the main things to look for when choosing ad server software or service provider:

1. Post Click Tracking – You want to make sure that you can track and optimize on post click actions like sales, opt-ins, etc. One of the best ways to optimize a campaign is by Earnings per thousand or eCPM.

2. Custom Reports – You want to make sure you can run custom reports on more than just impressions and clicks. You need to be able to see how much money was spent and how much profit was made with each traffic source and creative that you have in rotation.

3. Flexible Payouts – When you buy traffic you encounter publishers that sell their traffic not just on a CPM or CPC basis but also for a flat sponsorship rate, a CPV, or even CPA basis. So the ad server should allow for these different types of payouts to be entered into the system, otherwise it becomes a headache having to calculate the numbers reported to figure out if you are profiting or not.

4. Custom Optimization – You want the ability to optimize your campaigns other than by CTR because an ad has the highest click through rate does not necessarily mean it’s the most profitable ad and the one getting sales at the lowest cost per sale. Make sure you can create custom optimizers and have the ability to custom optimize the campaign according to whatever your campaign goals are. If your goal is to optimize the campaign to get the most possible sales at the lowest possible cost like it is for most marketers then you need to have the ability to optimize by eCPM.

5. Advanced Targeting – Some vendors offer advanced targeting features like behavioral targeting, remarketing, day part targeting etc. that will really make a big difference to your numbers.

It is very important that you have full control of serving and optimizing your ads. That’s why having your own ad server is key. In this business you can’t try to guess what’s working and what’s not – you have to know exactly what changes you need to do to your ads to make the campaign profitable.

Bottom line is that an ad server is a must if you want to profit big time. Make sure you do your homework before signing a contract and that the ad serving solution is going to be able to meet your need.